*Rusted Decay of Ten Score Years upgraded by 2 levels to ‘group’
Dance of the staves upgraded by two to ‘group’

Bio:

Upbringing:
Born into a peasant family in Wales, Rhodri was originally christened Arvel and his gift unsettled both his family and neighbours from the moment of his birth. As soon as he was able to walk Arvel was allowed to wander, partly in the hope that he would become lost in the nearby woods. The boy’s unwanted talent for disquiet only grew with time, and it was exacerbated by strange happenings. Household tools corroded and became useless when he used them. The boy was often seen talking to the same river which some neighbours once hoped would speed him away as a toddler. Arvel’s parents decided to find some excuse to send the boy away following an incident involving some older boys and a salamander their son had found.

Apprenticeship:
As his family and neighbours discussed the boy’s fate they were visited by a pair of travellers; a old robed man who was painted with evil symbols and his young servant. The servant asked the parents and siblings many questions about Arvel on the robed man’s behalf, and they told her all about the corroded tools, the injured children, and the hostility most animals held towards their son. The robed man had the same evil air about him as the boy, albeit subdued, so it was with little hesitation that Arvel’s parents allowed their son to be taken once offered a small sum in silver.
The robed man, a Criamon magus named Adris, found his future disciple by the river, conversing with a small creature that quickly escaped into the water. The boy had been calloused by contact with other people thus far into his life and appeared hardier than a normal boy his age. Adris’ hand, extended in friendship, was rebuked with a lightning-fast slap which then became a sudden and hostile withering of muscle. It was only after extending his parma to the child that Adris was able to soothe Arvel’s mind and convince him to leave his unwelcoming birthplace.
Adris was a patient and fair teacher. He instructed Arvel in the understanding of his gift, magic in general, and the Latin language. He taught Arvel about the Criamon mysteries and philosophy, and gifted his student the name ‘Rhodri’ as the young man began to display a better understanding of the circular nature of time and existence. Rhodri took to study well and was surprisingly bright, especially when receiving instruction in the theory of magic and the art of Vim.
As Rhodri’s stigmata developed it took on a more pronounced nature than normal, perhaps as a result of his blatant gift. This was not entirely an inconvenience, as Adris was able to use the boy’s ‘inscribed shadow’ to better guide his student through personal difficulties he had yet to overcome. The projection of Rhodri’s stigmata on to those people who did not possess magical resistance presented more of a hassle, at least to grogs unused to the Criamon ways, and Adris was often the only person with whom Rhodri could converse and socialise. Adris tried his best to educate Rhodri in understanding both body language and hidden motivations in strangers, but Rhodri often tried to sidestep the application of this useful knowledge by simply reading the stigmata he projected onto others.
Rhodri was left severely wanting when he tried to use Creo magic. Adris theorised that this could be due to some sort of magical ‘inversion’ which could account for his apprentice’s unusually strong constitution. Rhodri’s accumen in wielding Perdo, on the other hand, had already impressed his parens when the pair first met. This talent for making matter imperfect rather than improving it became a source of embarrassment for the young magus.
Rhodri travelled seldom, although he did return to his birthplace on occasion. After these infrequent visits ceased, Adris could sometimes hear the young man having seemingly one-sided conversations in his parens’ laboratory. Whatever the situation, it was not having an adverse effect on the boy, as far as Adris could tell from his stigmata, so he left Rhodri to his privacy.
Soon after completing gauntlet the young magus Rhodri expected to continue on in the covenant of his parens, but was pestered by a series of dreams involving an ouroboros . Adris then informed him of the vacancies in the covenant of Iniscrabhall and Rhodri considered Ireland’s lack of serpents to be a sign of some sort, and he made ready to travel there, though not in any great hurry.